Drilon backs Marcos in axing Moro Law

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday found an ally in no less than Senate President Franklin Drilon, who said he agrees with the opposition senator that the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) has to conform with the Constitution.

Drilon, also chaiman of the administration-backed Liberal Party, said the Senate has consistently been saying that it would review the proposed law and make sure it is within the four corners of the 1987 Constitution.

“This is something that all senators agree on. So, we will debate on the substitute bill when it is submitted to the chamber and we have many common grounds, One, it should pass the constitutional test; two, it should result in peace in Mindanao; and three, that national interest should be served,” he told reporters in a forum.

Marcos, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government that reviewed the draft BBL, in a privilege speech on Wednesday said the BBL in its present form and substance would not bring the country any closer to peace and instead would lead to armed conflict.

One of the reasons is failure of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) to conduct substantive consultations with other stakeholders in Mindanao, among them, Moro National Liberation Front, Sultanate of Sulu, indigenous peoples, local government units and businesses on the BBL.

Marcos said he cannot support the BBL in its present form and that is why he is preparing a substitute bill that would be for the good of everyone.

Drilon, when asked about the substitute bill, said it is the prerogative of the Marcos committee to come up with its version of the bill based on hearings it conducted.

He added that it is called a substitute bill because it does not refer to Section 1 of the BBL as submitted by Malacañang.

“So, maybe, he [Marcos], instead of going through an amendment of the measure, thinks that it is more convenient [for him]to present for debate a substitute bill,” Drilon explained

“I don’t think the statement of Senator Marcos should cause much concern,” he said.

According to the Senate President, the position of the senators from the very start is that they will examine closely the draft law and debate on it.

He noted that the Senate is a collegial body and no one can dictate on it.

Substitute bill
Marcos, in a statement, said the substitute bill to the draft BBL would address the serious security concerns raised by the Association of General and Flag Officers (AGFO) led by retired Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan in the last committee hearing.

AGFO, in a position paper it submitted to the committee, noted that the draft BBL “contains provisions which can create more problems that it can solve” but lacking in provisions that would ensure its workability.

The group wants the BBL to include a provision explicitly stating that the Bangsamoro or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) renounces forever its avowed separatist policy and goal of independence and pledges to remain under or be a part of the Republic of the Philippines.

AGFO is also pushing for the deletion of the provision allowing the creation of the Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP) Bangsamoro Command and the Bangsamoro Police.

“Instead the ARMM Regional Police [at present]should be reconstituted to become the Bangsamoro Region Police Office under the Philippine National Police,” the group said.

Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration should be carried out in a process that has definite timelines and that all provisions on redeployment of armed forces should be omitted or repealed.

“We intend to incorporate in the substitute bill the inputs of our retired generals. Many of them have a wealth of personal knowledge and experience as veterans in the war against insurgency and terrorism in Mindanao,” Marcos said.

Palace turns to allies
Malacañang also on Thursday said it remains confident that the proposed BBL will pass through the Senate, albeit roughly, with the help of administration allies in the chamber.

“We will leave it with our allies in the Senate to do what is proper. We believe that the [BBL] as drafted is the best course of action,” Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda told a news briefing, in reaction to Marcos junking the government’s version of the BBL which, the lawmaker said, will only “lead to perdition.”

“Certainly, we have some disagreements with [Marcos] on the BBL, but we believe that the BBL, as drafted and as reviewed by our office and as well as by the (Bangsamoro Transition) Commission, would stand scrutiny,” Lacierda said.

“It has already passed through the House. So we hope that the Senate will be able to come up with a BBL that will be acceptable to all stakeholders,” he added.

According to Lacierda, President Benigno Aquino 3rd may have already been informed about Marcos’ rejection of the BBL.

He said they have not seen whatever draft substitute bill Marcos has in mind but a meeting with their allies would be scheduled to discuss the matter “as to the best course of action.”

Lacierda expressed hope that their allies in the Senate can help the government hurdle snags in the Marcos committee.

“He is missing the point. The armed conflict has been going on for almost 50 years now since the time of his father [President Ferdinand Marcos]. The proposed Bangsamoro law’s very purpose is to address the cause of this armed conflict to give it an end,” Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Sitti Hataman Sitti said..

“The armed conflict is already there. And the President [Benigno Aquino 3rd] is looking for alternative because otherwise, armed conflict will always be there. The armed conflict in Mindanao started during the time of then-President Marcos, and we had been trying to initiate things that can resolve this problem,” Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman said.

The Hatamans were also baffled with Marcos’ criticism of the Bangsamoro Parliament’s exclusive powers.

“These powers, although exercised primarily by the Bangsamoro, will be without prejudice to the powers and jurisdiction of the State,” Sitti said.

“These peace initiatives, including the exclusive powers in an autonomy, started 17 said.

23 Comments

The list prepared by the NBI for the subsequent indictments of politicians involved in the PDAF scam is currently being reviewed by the Secretary of Justice.The prospect of the list being kept hostage by the Secretary of Justice, until after the passage of the approved BBL is a distinct possibility because the list is populated by members of congress with vested interest, loyal to the administration, and supporting the BBL.If the administration’s advisers are true Filipino, they should allow the chips to fall where it should, in full adherence to due process and allow the Filipino people to see the list of elective officials who are allegedly stealing from the people. Otherwise, the country will be challenged in a deeper conflict and senseless fragmentation..

@iamamoro, no no no, you moros are all living in Christian country, you must abide the laws of Philippine constitution, if you made BBL that is commensurate only to your ways of lives and customs but contradicts to Philippine constitution, that is not acceptable to filipinos, how can a moros be given an islamic state when you muslims defend your fellow alien terrorist muslims over a filipino law inforcer? think it over ignorant..

The BBL is unconstitutional in nature. The BBL is for MILF only but other stakeholders have been excluded intentionally. The BBL is not an assurance that peace will be achieved in the future once it is passed. The BBL has not been indorsed by the OIC but only Pnoy led Malaysian evil pact to divert the interest of our country to take back from our authority the Sabah territory and a sure prerequisite to the future independent state of the MOKLO people. The BBL if passed by these traitors lawmakers it will be a major problems in Mindanao, it will divide the nation from Muslim, Christian and other Filipino ethnic groups. The BBL is a disguise for peace to achieve their dark motives to strengthen their terrorist activities in the country. No to BBL, Junk the BBL. We are one nation, one government and one Filipino identity.

Obviously, Drilon is being true to himself. He is a dirty politician who will always switch sides, depending on how a situation is playing out. He must have taken a whiff of the people’s supportive sentiment for Sen. Marcos, and decided to go for it too, to improve his dwindling popularity, if one can even call it that. Or should I say, very shaky support base.

Those very smart President and his Advisers, Senators/Congressmen know the BBL is unconstitutional yet they spend precious time arguing to have it approved.

How corrupt this administration is unbelievable – as they say MONEY talks. When will they have time to do something concrete to help and uplift the condition of our poor people?

Rich got richer – fine if the money is not coming from the pockets of the poor people. The thing is the poor got poorer because the little money they got is going to the pockets of the corrupt rich, monster people.

We need a strong and honest person like Duterte who can contain our corrupt officials, once he wins in the election it will be the turnaround of events for these traitors in the government. We need like him to discipline the society. We have so much freedom that the criminals are no longer scared with the authorities. They are everywhere drug lords, Thieves in the government who pocketed multi billion pesos of the hard earned money by the taxpayers instead for the benefits of the less fortunate Filipinos but goes to their personal account, smuggling, rape cases is growing, neglected transportation MRT/LRT. Despite all of the these incompetencies and Idiocy, they have the guts to propose and pass the dangerous BBL for the terrorist. We are funding our death in the hands of these killers. Idiotic-Pnoy-government ever we had….

“Certainly, we have some disagreements with [Marcos] on the BBL, but we believe that the BBL, as drafted and as reviewed by our office and as well as by the (Bangsamoro Transition) Commission, would stand scrutiny,” Lacierda said.

those shadows have been here for decades. filipinos were poisoned with lies upon lies, its product is right infront of us. we lived on very thick layers of lies, in which we found ourselves hard to convince that we were fooled big time..for a long time..the biggest threat of this island nation is its people itself, its ignorance, it became a norm. shadows made it so?

It’s the Muslim lawmakers who seem to be missing the point, or missing it on purpose?

When the law provides leeway for them to separate from the Philippines, there is a 99.99% they will do it in the future. Why else are they against inserting a provision preventing them from doing so? Their true diabolical intentions are showing though their skirts, and MArcos is just saying it in the most nicest way.

With this observation, it is just proper that the crafter and the officials behind the BBL should be penalized at the fullest of the law. These traitors should be deported from the Philippines. They have no place to live in this country. Thank you Sen. Marcos

I am for BBL but Marcos has made good points and in the right direction. Drilon’s explicit statement that the BBL should pass 3 common grounds as agreed by all senators should be the guiding principle on the refinement of the bill.